Katt Kirsch
@kattkirsch
Games: Blerg: Authoress. Lagomorph Broodmother. Pretend Murder Enjoyer. Thinking Adventurist. Analogue Purist. Libra, Cardinal of the Golden Dawn (Over/Under). Moderator (Baseline Drift).
My thoughts on game design at large, and being labelled an rpg anarcho-primitivist in specific:
"In that moment, the immersion, the *feeling* of play, was unlike anything I could have imagined a month ago, when I let my buddy cajole me into trying out Cataphracts in Space." OVER/UNDER: The Bleed Machine, a preview of thoughts to come. kattkirsch.bearblog.dev/overunder-th...
It's no overstatement to say that #OVER/UNDER has been a profound experience that has given me pause, and recontextualized the hobby / passion / job that I've made a part of who I am for three decades. Excited to debrief with @samsorensen.bsky.social , and to stay in touch with my fellow cardinals!
Inspired by @scumbelievable.bsky.social 's watch of High And Low tonight.
William Gibson's Neuromancer. A phone-in I admit, this is an absolute fave of mine you need to read (again?). Oddly enough I've reread this book more than any other, but haven't read the other two books in the Sprawl Trilogy (did read Burning Chrome, and loved every page). Need to fix this shortly.
Kenji Siratori's Blood Electric. If the last book was free jazz, this is pure noise, the equivalent of Merzbow's Pulse Demon, or cyberpunk Finnegan's Wake. Written entirely in a faux-programming conlang, its loose narrative centers on an awakening AI fighting for its life. Just straight up bizarre.
Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. A book about war and God, and all the awful places they intersect. Hilarious and disgusting, violent and life-affirming, a meteoric tale in its own right. Not the most approachable book, but one I can still recommend, if you have the stomach for its sensibilities.
Big Sur, by Jack Kerouac. As a young, unmoored romantic, it's easy to fall into in the beats' vision of a mad urban wilderness. This book was Jack's mea culpa, a sobering tale of truth behind the mask, and a wakeup call that lifted the veil from my eyes. This cover art hangs on my living room wall.
George Pelecanos' King Suckerman. Pelecanos found massive success writing HBO's The Wire, but he's also written 20some novels of gritty detective fiction, and this book is the first in a cycle about Baltimore during the Bicentennial. If you've watched his show, this is his authorial voice purified.
Frank Rich's Avenging Angel. A boilerplate detective dime novel inexplicably set into a modern 2020s with autonamous zones, extrajudicial killings, anarchist rioters, and reclusive suicide cults who may or may not hold the keys to heaven itself - and that's in the first few chapters.
I hope everyone takes the opportunity to enjoy something beautiful today. Here's my contribution: a tiny rabbit eating watermelon
Sigh... You know what? Yeah, I guess so, yeah. openpsychometrics.org/tests/charac...
I heard Bruce once say in a wistful voice on a live recording, "losing him was like losing the rain."
@1900hotdog.bsky.social this happens with 1900HD and Bigfeets as well. Any ideas what's up? Other songs and podcasts play fine. Is this that ancient cryptid curse the elders told me not to worry about?!